Option 1: Pitcher Filter

Three Ways to Get

better-tasting, purer drinking water

This is a three-part series on three options: three ways to get better-tasting, purer drinking water for your home or office, while still protecting the environment. We will list all three, then deal with each one separately in different posts. The three ways are

use a pitcher filter, such as Brita offers;

use a faucet-mounted filter, such as PUR offers;

use a Reverse Osmosis filtering system, such as Crescent Hills Water offers.

Let’s look at all three. But first, why did I not list bottled water? Bottled water is very often just Reverse Osmosis water in a bottle. The plastic bottles are the problem. They are not biodegradable, and therefore are a hazard to the environment. According to lifehacker.com,

“In general, there are no major health advantages to drinking bottled water… The only time it’s generally recommended that you drink bottled water instead of tap water is if you’re in a group at high-risk for infection…”

Most people drink bottle water for the taste, not the health benefits.

Why did I not list spring or well water? Spring and well water vary in composition, depending upon the source and location. Just because the label on a water bottle reads “spring water” doesn’t mean it’s better for you than what is coming out of your faucet. It may taste better, but taste does not necessarily mean “better for you.”

In order to KNOW that you are getting the best water for your family and staff, you need to start with good water and then filter it to remove the harmful elements. Even spring and well water need to be filtered. And there are three ways to do that, as I have mentioned.

Option 1: Pitcher Filter

The first way to filter water is with a pitcher filter, such as Brita offers.

This is the simplest, least expensive way to go. But – and this is a big BUT – you are basically just filtering out the bad-tasting elements, such as the chemical aftertaste left by your local water treatment plant. Most pitcher filter companies do NOT claim to filter out lead or bacteria. Here’s what the Brita web site states:

“See what we filter out of your tap. Our standard pitcher filters use coconut-based activated carbon with ion exchange resin in a BPA-free housing to reduce chlorine taste and odor, zinc, and the health contaminants copper, cadmium and mercury.”

“It does not remove all of the minerals from the water. It reduces the concentration of calcium and magnesium with cation ion exchange resins, but these substances are not completely removed as in desalination systems or industrial plants that use reverse osmosis or distillation processes, for example.”

So a pitcher filter does an incomplete job of filtering. Two things that pitcher and faucet-mounted filters – as well as all other carbon-based technologies – have in common: they do not remove nitrates or fluoride. We will come back to fluoride later under Option 3: Reverse Osmosis Filtering System.